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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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cotton
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The commodity which best combined the advantages of Britain's world-wide trading network with the opportunities of the *Industrial Revolution, bringing great wealth in the 19C to northwest England. Lancashire was the natural place for the development of a cotton industry. It was close to Liverpool, where the raw material arrived from America; it had reliable rivers to provide the early mills with water power; it was close to plentiful supplies of coal, from the Midlands, in the subsequent era of the steam engine.
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The inventive skill of men such as *Kay, *Hargreaves and *Crompton, combined with the productivity of regimented workers in mechanized factories, meant that the finished products exported from Lancashire could undercut hand-made goods even in the cotton-producing countries. This ceased to be the case from the late 19C, when others borrowed the technology and benefited from a cheaper supply of labour. The result was prolonged recession in Lancashire during much of the 20C.
Britain's last steam-powered cotton mill, with engine and looms built in 1894, remained in operation in Burnley, Lancashire, until the early 1990s. It is preserved as a museum.
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